Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Carla: Cave Dweller

Yesterday afternoon I discovered that I am the last person on the planet to find out that New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof is from Yamhill, Oregon.

I came across this common known (except to me) fact while sitting yesterday afternoon in a doctor's waiting room with my son. This epiphany was revealed to me while thumbing through a June 2005 edition of Portland Monthly magazine. Unfortunately the magazine doesn't seem to archive their issues online. The piece in question was mostly a profile of Kristof's parents--living as lefty academics in a hardcore conservative swath of Oregon wine country.

I was unable to read the entire article--two pages into the piece the nurse beckoned us to the examining room and I set the magazine down when I accompanied my son. But when I came home I Googled the information, discovering that its widely available on the internets. Not to mention that Kristoff has written about Yamhill several times.

Now I'm thinking that there may be many more famous and accomplished folks that hail from Oregon that I'm unaware of. I know of Gus Van Sant's Oregon residency. I also know of author Jean Auel,Simpson's creator Matt Groening, Today Show anchor Ann Curry and chemist/Vitamin C guru/Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling (who I had the distinct pleasure of meeting back in the 80s when he gave a lecture at my college).

Who else am I missing?